Update with the car.

Charles and GT have been working on my car. Unfortunately it isn't going very well. They got the intake manifold gasket changed and the car back together. They started it up and there was white smoke in the exhaust. This typically means that there is coolant in the combustion chambers. Not good at all. They are going to try to do an oil change tomorrow to see how that goes. If that still doesn't work, we will have to evaluate from there. At this point I feel that the car is toast and it is time to figure out how to get a new one. With most extra money going to the wedding, I am not sure how we are going to do that. However, I feel that God is trying to either teach us something, or preventing something worse from happening.

I will keep updates about the car as they come about.

The car is starting to come together. Turns out it was the lower intake manifold... not sure what that means, other than it is much cheaper to repair then the head casket. Charles and GT spent all afternoon into the night working on it. From about 2:00 until 10:30. I love them for trying to fix this for me. They are going to try to finish it up today. Hopefully Charles won't be too tired to do so. He was called at around 4:30 this morning for one of his works clients. He was on call last night. Not sure how he is doing yet, haven't heard from him this morning. I am sure that he is going to want to come home and go to bed tonight.

105 Days and Counting

So... I strongly feel that Satan is trying to do everything in His power to prevent my wedding from happening. Things just keep happening that make me want to post-pone it a few months.

First... Wednesday November 25th... I was picking up my brother to take him to get diapers for his kid and to my place for Thanksgiving. While I was waiting for him to grab something from his place, I noticed that my car was smoking. I couldn't see it when I had my sunglasses off, but I could see the smoke when they were on. It wasn't big as if the radiator had cracked or anything, so I opened the hood to look. I saw there was something leaking on the engine block itself. Looking closer I see that it looks a little green and it is coming from a hose. Me being a girl and having no mechanical knowledge, besides flat tires, was freaking out. Luckily, I wasn't too far from my future in-laws place, so I took it over there and had G.T. look at it, with Charles on the phone. He said it looked like there was oil in the coolant system. This would mean the head casket would need to be replaced that can cost upwards of 1500 dollars. So, I park my car, swear a bunch, cry a little, cause I don't have the money to replace anything, whether it be the head casket or the car itself. I borrow Cassie's car for the weekend, and get home feeling like the world is crashing in on me.

Second, Thursday... Kyle calls mom to see how Pat's meeting went to get approval to come to the states. Kyle gets me on the phone with mom and she proceeds to tell me that Pat has to go to a psychiatrist next week, the next step in the process, but he still may not get permission for another 4-6 months. She then says, so we probably won't be able to make it for the wedding. I asked, "Are you still going to come if Pat can't?" Her response, "I don't know. We will see." Talk about a slap in the face. I see her once a year, maybe. I understand that I have been married before, she was there for that one, and I understand that she doesn't want to leave her husband, as she has been away from him a lot this year, but... come on. She can fly in on Friday night and leave Sunday morning. She would be away from him less than 48 hours. I am not asking her to help me with the wedding. I am buying my dress instead of having her make it, like she did the last one. I am having my bridesmaids buy their dresses instead of mom making them. I am not asking her to do anything but be there.

They say that bad things come in three's, so I am now waiting for something else really horrible to happen. I just need to remember that God is putting me through these trials for a reason. That he is allowing this to strengthen me. He will not put me through any trial that I am not able to bear. I need to have faith that he is just making sure that Charles and I can withstand stressful situations and come through it. He loves me and is with me every step of the way. I need to have faith that He will provide a way for my mother to come to my wedding and for my car to be fixed at a decent cost.

As for everything else... I am still having trouble sticking to my diet and exercise. The diet portion isn't too bad, but the exercise part is what I am having trouble with. I just feel like I have no time to do it. I know that I need to because I only have a few outfits that fit me right now, and I don't have the money to purchase new clothes. At this point we aren't going to have much money for Christmas.

Not a whole lot of update for the wedding yet. Still just starting to think about when to purchase what. G.T. is suppose to be working on scanning in pictures and figuring out the slide show. I am still working on the song list. Everything seems to be going fairly well though. 105 days left and I will officially be Mrs. Charles Hastings.

New Term!

Sometimes I really dislike the start of a new term. They tend to start the term smack dead in the middle of the week. So I either have three days to get the first week assignments all done, or I have a week and a half to get the first two weeks of assignments done. I always feel very rushed the first week of the term. It tends to be very frustrating. I have managed to get the first week of assignments for 2 out of 4 classes finished. I will have to work on more tomorrow after work. This week is going to be busy. Who am I kidding, this term is going to be busy. With Thanksgiving and Christmas both within the term, it is going to be extremely busy.

As for the wedding, the countdown is still going. Only 117 days left until the big day. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I feel like I am not going to be able to afford or get everything that I want. I need to get tablecloths for the tables since the church doesn't have any for the big long tables. So I need to measure how long those are. I also want to make table runners for the tables. I will need to get all of the center pieces as well. I still need to order my dress and my shoes and finish up the invitations. I need to figure out how to get those printed, especially since my printer is on the fritz. I think I will be asking Santa for a nice, new printer that can print pictures too.

I realized the other day that I have uploaded pictures of my shoes, and the flowers, but I haven't shown what I am going to try to get my cake to look like, my dress or the bridesmaid dresses. The cake looks like this:


The website for my dress is: http://www.romanticgowns.com/Collection/product-page.asp?q=Wedding+Dress&SKU=Natalie&i=79544234277

The Bridesmaids dresses will be similar to this: http://www.vponsale.com/bridesmaid-dresses/337331/?main_page=product_info&cPath=295&products_id=2082

I know that as long as I trust in God, everything will fall into place. He will provide for me whatever is needed as long as that is his will.

Friday was busy!

On Friday I managed to do a lot. I feel like I accomplished so much. I figured out how I want our wedding invitations, I figured out the scrolls that I am going to have, I also did the response cards. I set up and RSVP website, to help save on cost for postage stamps. I did almost all the laundry, made a cake, and worked on Grandma's blanket a little bit. I also updated a bit of the guest list for the wedding as well. So much still left to do in the next 125 days.

My car is fixed. We had to replace the battery again. that is twice in the last couple of years. I need to make sure that I am taking really good care of that car, since I can't afford a new one for a while yet.

I didn't get to take Logan this weekend. He has the chicken pox. So... hopefully he will get better soon cause I miss him. I am having baby withdrawals.

Good day turned bad.

So I go to the store today with three little boys, get the items that I needed. Get back out to the car and then, my car won't start. It wouldn't even click over. I am thinking, oh great... another thing for Charles to get stressed over. I call my brother-in-law, he was at my house, to come help me out. He gets there with the jumper cables, and nothing still. We wait about 5-10 mins and try again, still nothing. I call my dad to come tow me home so I can at least try to work on my car. About two minutes after I called my dad, GT wiggles the jumper cables a bit more, and we try again. It starts!!!!!! Dad shows up, we then go home. I get home, turn the car off, and it won't start again. Charlie is going to be frustrated again. I know it isn't my fault, but it is situational. I just feel bad because it is my car. Hopefully we will be able to figure out what is wrong with the car and be able to fix it really cheap. We don't have the money right now to fix anything really.

On a lighter note, the wedding is 127 days away. I get 160 hours of PTO with the job so I get to take the week before and after the wedding off. At least that is the plan and hope. I'm thinking if that is the case, there is sooo much that I will be able to do on my own for the wedding. It makes me excited.

For karate last night we learned strengthening techniques. This is where we strengthen the arms by hitting them with each other. I thought it was really cool. Charles also said that my form was looking really good. That I was improving a lot over the past three weeks. I still have a little bit of issue with him being the 'boss', but I am slowly getting over it.

Another busy day!

Finished another term today. I am so glad that this one is done. I really enjoyed the classes though, but I felt like the term just dragged on and on. Hopefully another 4.0 is on the way.

I was looking at stuff for the wedding... again... still.... and I think I found the shoes that I really like, the shoes that I am going to get.

This is really close to the one I had in my dream. The closest that I have seen yet. They are only $40.00 too. I was expecting my shoes to be more expensive. I expect that I am going to order them in the next month. About the same time that I order my dress. Speaking of dress... here is the web address for my dress.

http://www.romanticgowns.com/Collection/product-page.asp?q=Wedding+Dress&SKU=Natalie&i=79544234277

Picture that with a hunter green sash. I am excited. About 4.5 months to go.